After murder-suicides, families left to wonder what went wrong

WARNING: This story contains graphic details of violence.

A couple is found dead in their home. Police soon confirm it is a murder-suicide.

In the aftermath, family and friends are often left to wonder what went wrong and what could have been done to prevent the deaths. Experts say much remains hidden in such cases, given there is no trial after the perpetrator dies. 

"Often the file is closed quickly, and we don't know much about the relation[ship] between [the] men and women before this happened," said Louise Riendeau, a spokesperson for Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, a Quebec organization representing women's shelters.

"We don't know if there was a health problem, a mental health problem. So it's often difficult to see what happened."

As part of a 16-month investigation, CBC News compiled and analyzed intimate partner homicide data across Canada between January 2015 and June 2020. In 61 of the 392 documented cases (15 per cent), the homicide was followed by a suicide, the investigation found. 

The vast majority of the victims were women, most often killed with a firearm by their male partners or estranged partners. But, without a trial, and left to rely on coroner's reports that don't often give a full picture, little else is known about what led to the crimes.

In Quebec, there were 38 intimate partner homicides over the five-year period analyzed by CBC. Of those, seven were murder-suicides.

In one 2020 murder-suicide, Gatineau Police only identified the couple as a 63-year-old man and a 55-year old woman, but did not name them or indicate who committed the murder. 

CBC only discovered their names after inquiring with the coroner's office.

Although coroner's reports can shed some light on the murders, experts say they don't provide the full picture. Often, the coroner only focuses on what led to the death in the preceding hours, days or weeks. 

Simon Lapierre, an associate professor in the school of social work at the University of Ottawa, hopes that will change. 

Lapierre was part of a Quebec committee that recommended a checklist in December 2020 to ensure all coroner's reports contain specific details — such as past criminal charges, mental health or addiction issues or controlling behaviour. 

The checklist should improve the consistency of the reports, and give a better overview of what happened and any warning signs that were perhaps missed, Lapierre said.